The abyss of nothingness….

Today, 31 January 2020. I feel my country has taken its first steps into the abyss of nothingness. It is easy to have an emotional reaction to the insanity which is American politics. America is a nation divided along racial and partisan lines. Many stands on the Democrat side and cheer for their elected representatives, others cheer for the Republican team, and a few falls into the category of Libertarian. At some point we have forgotten rule number one, we are all Americans.

Whatever the result of the impeachment proceedings are, we Americans are the losers. It is a dangerous time to be alive. Laws are partisan, if you don’t agree with the masses, you are subject to the whim of said masses. Evidence is no longer required to prove guilt, instead your popularity or lack thereof is enough to send you to prison or be impeached.

Earlier today, I wrote about due process. It is a tumultuous time where precedents are being set which will be harmful to our Republic. Instead of us binding together and finding a way to progress, we refuse to have open dialogue with anyone who differs with our opinion. We refuse to see the danger in excusing the failure to follow the Constitution, which is part of the foundation of our country. Rather, we blindly follow our representatives to the slaughterhouse.

We no longer seek common ground to find a way to live peaceably with our fellow man. Rather, we lazily accept opinion as fact. Slavery may have been abolished, but the chains which shackle us today are in our minds. It seems thinking for oneself is too complicated, we wait for our favorite celebrities to regurgitate the talking points of their political party. Blindly we line up with whatever sounds like our truth, without realizing there is only the truth.

Silently, we shuffle into the gaping maw of the abyss.

There is only one way to break the chains of oppression. The first step comes in recognizing we have been silent too long. We have not held the government accountable for their actions. Instead of us taking charge of the government and holding their feet to the fire, we relinquished control of it and left the Congress and Senate to their own devices. Now we find ourselves on the Cliffs of Insanity with a firsthand view of the madness that awaits us. Some would say it’s not too late to change course, others want all out civil war.

To those who would say it’s not too late to change course, I would say it takes more than words to change the course of a nation. We did not arrive at this point overnight, to plot a new course requires us to change our thinking. This includes our ability to listen to ideas we don’t agree with and find a compromise. If we are unwilling to change, then nothing will improve.

Those who call for armed rebellion or civil war, I would simply say crack open a history book. The last Civil War fought in America cost over 600,000 lives. This doesn’t include property damage, it doesn’t include those traumatized by the war, nor does it include the fact that certain areas have never recovered from choosing sides. It’s easy to think the ills of our country can be corrected with superior firepower and a willingness to use it. The problem lies in assuming the other side are cowards. If it ever comes down to armed rebellion, it will be bloodier than the last time America split over an issue. Civil War should be the absolute last thing any of us should want.

Silently, we will continue down the path into the abyss until something drastic wakes us.

31 January 2020

P.S. The Cliffs of Insanity is found in the motion picture, The Princess Bride.